Posts Tagged ‘Ethics Committee’

The Knesset’s Ethics Committee issued a one-week suspension to MK Ahmad Tibi because of a crude poem he read in the plenum.

Tibi was criticizing MK Anastassia Michaeli for having dumped a cup of water on MK Raleb Majadle during a contentious meeting of the Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee last week. The two were engaged in a verbal sparring match, with each one shouting at the other to “shut up!” when Michaeli poured a cupful of cold water on Majadle and stormed out of the room – a move that earned Michaeli a month’s ban from the Ethics Committee.

In coming to Majadle’s defense, Tibi composed a rhyming rebuke of Michaeli in which he suggested that Michaeli had suffered “a plumbing problem” that caused her watery outburst. Tibi, a former gynecologist, also used puns playing on the similar sounds of certain Hebrew and Arabic words to make a not-so-veiled derogatory reference to Michaeli’s mother.

Tibi, unrepentant, said the suspension was part of an anti-Arab crusade against him.

“There are no Arabs on the Ethics Committee, and its members treat me as an enemy, so the committee’s decisions are prejudiced,” he said.

The suspension, which goes into effect on Sunday, pertains only to plenum discussions; Tibi will be permitted to participate in votes.

Israel Beitenu MK Anastassia Michaeli has been suspended from the Knesset plenum by the Knesset’s Ethics Committee for a period of one month, in the wake of Monday’s incident where she threw water on Labor MK Ghaleb Majadle’s during a Knesset’s Education, Culture, and Sports Committee session.

This sanction is the harshest ordered by the current committee, as a typical suspension for disciplinary reasons lasts a day or two. In comparison, Balad MK Hanin Zoabi, who participated in the Gaza flotilla, was suspended for two weeks. Nevertheless, Michaeli apologized to the Ethics Committee, saying she was “was upset and it happened in the heat of the moment. I had no intention of disrespecting the Knesset or the Knesset member personally.”

Michaeli is permitted to participate in any votes held during her suspension.